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Because of good infection control, the Ebola crisis is now receding in West Africa, but there is still transmission of the disease between patients and healthcare workers taking place. In order to keep everyone safe, it is vital that protective equipment is put on and taken off in exactly the right order and that all the necessary precautionary measures are followed.

Now in addition to workshops, interactive 3D technology borrowed from the gaming industry is being used to train healthcare workers exactly how to do this. It was developed by a partnership between Masanga Hospital in Sierra Leone, Mentor Initiative in Liberia, and a team from Plymouth University Schools of Medicine and Dentistry including Dr Tom Gale, clinical associate professor in clinical skills.

Cryopen
Every year more than a quarter of a million women worldwide die from cervical cancer and 80% of them in low income countries. In Peru, doctors at the National Cancer Institute are at the forefront of testing an inexpensive cryotherapy device called the Cryopen, which can remove cervical cancer before it develops. Because it is portable it could be used in remote areas and enable many more women to be treated. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½â€™s Irene Caselli reports from Lima.

Mental Health Ukraine
With 900,000 civilians displaced, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has taken its toll on the mental health of civilians. In the city of Donetsk, the charity Médecins Sans Frontières‎, or MSF, has five psychologists trying to help anyone affected by the conflict. If people cannot be reached, they can call a telephone hotline number and receive counselling over the phone. Pooja Iyer is the clinical psychologist supervising MSF’s team.

The MSF hotline numbers are:
095 900 4473
063 917 4240

(Photo: Ebola training tool. Credit: Masanga Mentor, Ebola Initiative and PUPSMD)